Critics pounce after the paparazzi captures this early glimpse of Anne Hathaway in her full Catwoman costume. Screen shot, MTV.com

September 27, 2011

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When the first official photo of Anne Hathaway in costume as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, was released in August, fans and critics were almost universally disappointed. The outfit — most of which was obscured by a giant motorcycle — hardly looked like Catwoman at all, with Hathaway merely wearing a slinky black leather body suit and goggles. When word of the lukewarm reception reached Hathaway, she told MTV News, "If you don't like the photo, you only see about a tenth of what that suit can do." Well, now the full costume has been revealed. (See an image at right and below.) Here are five things people are talking about:

1. She's got earsAll those who bemoaned the lack of ears in the first photo can rest easy, says Aubrey Sitterson at IFC. These new images reveal a much more "cat-like costume," ears and all. Missing from these photos, however, are the goggles Hathaway was sporting in that earlier image, perhaps adding credence to speculation that Catwoman's goggles turn into ears, says Eric Ditzian at MTV. Exactly, says Jim Vejvoda at IGN. Her "ears" are created by pushing the night-vision goggles onto her head "as you might do with sunglasses," which makes them appear, appropriately, like pointy cat ears.

2. It's just the right amount of sexyNow that we've seen the tight leather and dangerously high stiletto boots, Hathaway's crack that she "is living on kale and dust" in order to slink into the sexy ensemble is understandable, says Ditzian. And while the fashionable boots may not be "the best choice for high-flying kung fu moves," with their steel toes, perhaps they're yet "another weapon in Catwoman's arsenal?" Regardless, says Jason Serafino at Complex, just be glad that Hathaway's not "oozing sex appeal" in the offensively overt way that Halle Berry did when she played the iconic character in 2004.

3. This costume mirrors the comic book — but also straysThis Catwoman appears to be a "pretty orthodox" interpretation of the famous comic book character, says Ben Child at the U.K.'s Guardian. But mercifully, Hathaway's costume omits the whiskers and tail. If anything, says Vejvoda, with free-flowing hair and no cowl, Hathaway resembles Julie Newmar's look on the 1960s Batman TV series more than the comic book version. It's still missing one thing, though, says Shoshana Kessock at Ology. "Where's the whip?"

4. Catwoman pales in comparison to Nolan's past villainsThe dark, unexpected costuming of Nolan's previous Batman villains has become one of the director's hallmarks. So "given the inventive job Nolan's team did with Heath Ledger's Joker and Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow in The Dark Knight and Batman Begins," says Child, this Catwoman disappoints. For all the potential Nolan's interpretation of the costume had, agrees Instinct, "the entire Internet and Julie Newmar yawned at our first glimpse of the empty pleather-wrapped promise."

5. And it makes Hathaway's casting all the more worrisomeGiven the "dark and weirdly realistic" tone Nolan has given his previous Batman films, this costume seems woefully out of place, says Ben Child at the U.K.'s Guardian. Given how "worrisome" the casting of Hathaway was in the first place, seeing her prance around with "little rubber cat ears" doesn't exactly assuage our fears. Indeed, says Will Leitch at Yahoo. The initial concern was that Hathaway is too "daffy, charming, and goofy" to handle the gravitas Catwoman requires. This "Halloween cat costume" is probably not going to change any minds.